Scott to announce Florida is abandoning PARCC testing

Gov. Rick Scott is expected today to tell U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan that Florida is withdrawing from the testing system designed to evaluate the new Common Core standards in schools, which rattles former Gov. Jeb Bush’s defense of the nationwide program in his home state.

Scott plans to send a letter to Duncan announcing that Florida will no longer take part in the nationwide Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) testing, according to those briefed by Scott’s office in the matter.

State legislative leaders earlier this summer also said they wanted to back away from the PARCC and develop a Florida-only testing system.

The Florida Board of Education, meeting in West Palm Beach last week, ordered state Education Commissioner Pam Stewart to start looking at what it would take to develop a state-only system in time for 2014-15, when Common Core is set to be fuly implemented in Florida.

Scott will echo this request to Stewart in a second letter today. He also will reiterate his support for Common Core, despite calls from critics for Florida to abandon it.

Scott, who earlier said he supported Common Core and huddled recently with Bush and other backers, has been mostly quiet on the subject in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, opponents from the political right and left have been calling for the state to withdraw, blistering Common Core either as government overreach or another step toward “teaching to the test” in schools.

Scott today also is expected to issue an executive order, setting the framework for state education officials to enact his policy switch.